Circles of Power is about a dominant culture and its 4 marginalized cultures. You play literally social justice wizards from the marginalized groups, after having built the world and defined how the groups are limited/oppressed.
Kingdom of Nothing (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/88677/Kingdom-of-Nothing) is a game about homeless people who have had their identity mostly devoured by some dark force that's trying to finish the job. It's about living on the fringes of society, facing challenges regular people don't even know exist and trying to claw back from a tragedy that almost entirely destroyed your life. In play it's pretty Don't Rest Your Head-y, with a loose change-based resolution system. drivethrurpg.com - Kingdom of Nothing
Help me out here, internet mind. In the 90s there was a Dark Future Supers game published by Mayfair (that I'm pretty sure about, because it used the same mechanics as DC Heroes). There were ads for it in Dragon, and one of them had "Justice or Just Us" tagged all over the background...
Did you look at K.N. Granger's stuff? We're looking at running A Trip to Dr. Fielgude at one of our senior properties, about emotional wellness. natgranger.blogspot.com - my list of books
If you just want one of the nexus, any of the War Birds games fit the bill: Against the Grain, Keeping the Candles Lit, Mobilize, We Were WASP, The Things She Carried, Rosenstrasse, Model Protectorates.
Oh Loneliness!.... Asbjørn Olsen 's Exile and Mads Kirchhoff's The Endless Empty City, also White Death and Before & After Silence though both of the latter more abstract and conceptual about the isolation of the human experience.
If a certain playtest goes how I want it to, I'm gonna talk about some changes in my game about adventurers in a couple of days. This game may join these hallowed ranks, if I can ever figure out a bloody name.
I would consider 14 Days to be strongly adjacent to all three of those elements, even though it isn't about any of them. (These comments make for quite a reading list!)
Is it a good thing or a bad thing when the straight white guy says the game is unfair, and the only woman at the table says it was too much like real life?
William Nichols I think I have to go with "yes," assuming these responses were your intent. A point is clearly being made, I guess the question is how painful you want the game to be for those who have had similar experiences? But that degree of responsiveness is very impressive
Shane Liebling , Miles Peiser playtest of the newest version of my adventurers game without a name. I added a poverty stat, and made the expense to stay alive based on completely arbitrary decisions made during character creation.
I also said up front that the game was dangerous and frought, and not safe. Because I do care about my friends.
Shane Liebling I think it could depending on how you play it (really play up the tensions between groups, and especially directed toward the Tycherosi. If you really wanted to incite that feeling of oppression and poverty, though, and not just group tensions I think you would have to hack it. Which is something I've actually started to do (yesterday, so there isn't much to show atm beyond notes), based somewhat on lengthy conversations with Adam Dray about City of Brass.
It's a really great setting and system that he's put together for it. And It's also extremely painful. Especially the way he ran it for the first few months, it was very real.
So when I started writing up the outline for Blades I internally cringed, asking myself whether I would ever actually enjoy playing a game like this? But it should ultimately let a group play a crew of characters that is trying to make their way through and above crippling poverty, and having to make desperate decisions in order to survive, while struggling under already established authorities.
But I have no intention of submitting this for the Civic Games Challenge. It started with me trying to answer whether you could take a system with an abstract idea of coin and a rigid mission based system and try to account for the people at the bottom of the societal ladder in an already resource limited setting.
William Nichols Would you be willing to share what you've written for this? I totally understand if you're not ready for that yet, but reading what you have here, I'm really curious to see it, and hear more about how it ended up playing
The looking for a single RPG that emphasizes all of those?
ReplyDeleteBlack Teeth and The Name of God come to mind. Mostly the former.
ReplyDeleteI'm not picky, Christo Meid , and am looking to mine ideas.
ReplyDeleteCircles of Power is about a dominant culture and its 4 marginalized cultures. You play literally social justice wizards from the marginalized groups, after having built the world and defined how the groups are limited/oppressed.
ReplyDeletePrepping for the Civic Games contest? ; ' ]
ReplyDeleteRed Markets, Dog Eat Dog, The Republic, maybe The 'Hood, kinda-sorta Torchbearer, and definitely Space Wurm vs. Moonicorn.
ReplyDeleteJesse Cox Got a link for Black Teeth? My google fu is failing on that one.
ReplyDeleteChristo Meid Got a link? I'm getting D&D spells.
ReplyDeleteJesse Cox You know it! Play testing this week, then revising based on that and research.
ReplyDeleteShane Liebling I remember seeing Red Marks. How in the world did I not back it?
ReplyDeleteThe 'Hood I was wondering about. I think it is more on point than I want.
Of course Space Wurm. That should have come to mind initially. Its more .. .complex ... than I want, but it is fantastic.
Yeah I am kind of losing my shit over how amazing (and political) SWvM is. (Obviously in a good way.)
ReplyDeleteKingdom of Nothing (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/88677/Kingdom-of-Nothing) is a game about homeless people who have had their identity mostly devoured by some dark force that's trying to finish the job. It's about living on the fringes of society, facing challenges regular people don't even know exist and trying to claw back from a tragedy that almost entirely destroyed your life. In play it's pretty Don't Rest Your Head-y, with a loose change-based resolution system.
ReplyDeletedrivethrurpg.com - Kingdom of Nothing
Nicotine Girls by Paul Czege
ReplyDeleteMalandros does some good work with poverty -
ReplyDeleteporcupinegames.com - Malandros
I have an ashcan from Jason Pitre. It was being sold at Dreamation Breakout. Can't seem to find it online...
ReplyDeleteJames Iles Yes. For some reason I always mix that up with Mortal Coil but then know I do that but never remember what I mix it up with. :)
ReplyDeleteChristo Meid I picked up a copy at Dreamation. I bet Jim Crocker could help people get physical copies, since I acquired it from him. ;)
ReplyDeletePaul Czege's The Clay That Woke is probably another good option.
ReplyDeleteHelp me out here, internet mind. In the 90s there was a Dark Future Supers game published by Mayfair (that I'm pretty sure about, because it used the same mechanics as DC Heroes). There were ads for it in Dragon, and one of them had "Justice or Just Us" tagged all over the background...
ReplyDeleteThat's Underground. The social parameter rules are interesting:
ReplyDeleteen.m.wikipedia.org - Underground (role-playing game) - Wikipedia
Derrick Sanders Underground?
ReplyDeleteFor poverty, oppression and loneliness how about classic D&D with just one player and the DM.
plus.google.com - Yow! This sounds intense. https://dropbox.com/s/44e9tba9prtahyg/Black%20Teet... is Black Teeth
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols I hope to have more information on Circles of Power up tonight.
ReplyDeletePaul Czege Brian Ashford Yuppers, thanks!
ReplyDeletewell, this exploded. Almost as if folks are thinking about oppression, poverty, and games for some reason. :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep it up folks, the research will do me good!
And you've got an awesome list to start an online Resistcon. (Opressioncon would be just to dark).
ReplyDeleteAutonomy?
ReplyDeleteMy brain is insisting that Meera Barry has something brilliant to share here.
ReplyDeleteBlack Teeth (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ns4xoe40zkskub6/Black%20Teeth%202.pdf?dl=0) is about being homeless
ReplyDeletedropbox.com - Black Teeth 2.pdf
Did you look at K.N. Granger's stuff? We're looking at running A Trip to Dr. Fielgude at one of our senior properties, about emotional wellness. natgranger.blogspot.com - my list of books
ReplyDeleteOh shit Jesse Cox scooped me on Black Teeth, but at least it links to my Dropbox copy. It was posted up once and the author hit +10 Fade
ReplyDeleteWhat was the RPG where you play homeless people who are the only ones who can see the monsters? Using small change (coins) instead of dice.
ReplyDeleteMeera Barry For some reason, google marked your comment as spam. I've fixed that.
ReplyDeleteChristo Meid huh. Maybe! #Resist! #ShePersisted
ReplyDeleteAnna Kreider Yes indeedy. And looks like my google fu is still strong enough to find peach pants. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAdam Dray Are you thinking of "Underworld" by Gareth-Michael Skarka?
ReplyDeleteMeera Barry I hadn't see that, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAdam Dray that's Kingdom of Nothing that James Iles mentioned
ReplyDeleteIf you just want one of the nexus, any of the War Birds games fit the bill: Against the Grain, Keeping the Candles Lit, Mobilize, We Were WASP, The Things She Carried, Rosenstrasse, Model Protectorates.
ReplyDeleteI second The Clay that Woke, also by Paul Czege, especially once figure out how to actually run it
ReplyDeleteAaron Griffin YES. Kingdom of Nothing. Brilliant game.
ReplyDeleteMy Life with Master is about oppression, specifically codependency.
ReplyDeleteAnd though she wouldn't necessarily raise her hand about it, Kimberley Lam 's Blood is Thick
ReplyDeleteAnd Daniel Levine 's Injustice World
ReplyDeleteAnd the #Feminism collection.
ReplyDeleteOMG! HOW DID I FORGET #FEMINISM
ReplyDeleteand The Tribunal.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically addressing the question regarding loneliness, and especially of rejection, a good argument can be made for Promethean
ReplyDeleteSee, these could definitely be combined into an online con. 😁
ReplyDeleteOh Loneliness!.... Asbjørn Olsen 's Exile and Mads Kirchhoff's The Endless Empty City, also White Death and Before & After Silence though both of the latter more abstract and conceptual about the isolation of the human experience.
ReplyDeleteInjustice World is kind of vaporware, tho.
ReplyDeleteIf a certain playtest goes how I want it to, I'm gonna talk about some changes in my game about adventurers in a couple of days. This game may join these hallowed ranks, if I can ever figure out a bloody name.
ReplyDeleteJane is coming along, though.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols Get someone good at titles to name it for you. Dead serious. My husband names 90% of my games.
ReplyDeleteDon't give it a name subject to change though. It never will: Hence Lumberjills, Nightingales, Rosenstrasse.
ReplyDeleteAt least War Birds evolved it's title from it's placeholder name: Gone to Soldiers
I would consider 14 Days to be strongly adjacent to all three of those elements, even though it isn't about any of them.
ReplyDelete(These comments make for quite a reading list!)
Morgan Davie I mean, right? There's a couple dozen games here and a dozen or so people who told me to go read them.
ReplyDeleteHow about Dark Sun?
ReplyDeleteCircles of Power is now available, fyi. http://www.genesisoflegend.com/product/circles-of-power-apprentice-edition/
ReplyDeleteOf course Durance! That took us a while to get to!
ReplyDeleteIf we're bringing prison into it I think Rachel E.S. Walton's Mars 244 might fit.
ReplyDeleteOh, doh! And The Prison
ReplyDeleteIs it a good thing or a bad thing when the straight white guy says the game is unfair, and the only woman at the table says it was too much like real life?
ReplyDeleteWhat game were you playing? (I have a guess, but don't want to say quite yet.)
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols I think I have to go with "yes," assuming these responses were your intent. A point is clearly being made, I guess the question is how painful you want the game to be for those who have had similar experiences? But that degree of responsiveness is very impressive
ReplyDeleteWas this the playtest?
ReplyDeleteShane Liebling , Miles Peiser playtest of the newest version of my adventurers game without a name. I added a poverty stat, and made the expense to stay alive based on completely arbitrary decisions made during character creation.
ReplyDeleteI also said up front that the game was dangerous and frought, and not safe. Because I do care about my friends.
Ah. I thought you might be talking about Bluebeard's Bride. (Which definitely should be in this list if it isn't already.)
ReplyDeleteShane Liebling indeed, how did that not make the list earlier. There's a game that scares me intensely.
ReplyDeleteHave you played it yet? It is a scary and powerful experience.
ReplyDeleteLonely Games! Why didn't I think of Brie Sheldon's Lonely Games! I think they are not out quite yet.... and this may be why?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Blades In The Dark would kinda-sorta fit?
ReplyDeleteMo Jave they're so near done! We are very close to publishing. So sorry :/
ReplyDeleteBrie Sheldon whyfor apologize? There's no harm in taking your time. I just can't believe I didn't think of them right away!
ReplyDeleteShane Liebling I think it could depending on how you play it (really play up the tensions between groups, and especially directed toward the Tycherosi. If you really wanted to incite that feeling of oppression and poverty, though, and not just group tensions I think you would have to hack it. Which is something I've actually started to do (yesterday, so there isn't much to show atm beyond notes), based somewhat on lengthy conversations with Adam Dray about City of Brass.
ReplyDeleteMiles Peiser My own design is influenced by two sessions of city of brass.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really great setting and system that he's put together for it. And It's also extremely painful. Especially the way he ran it for the first few months, it was very real.
ReplyDeleteSo when I started writing up the outline for Blades I internally cringed, asking myself whether I would ever actually enjoy playing a game like this? But it should ultimately let a group play a crew of characters that is trying to make their way through and above crippling poverty, and having to make desperate decisions in order to survive, while struggling under already established authorities.
But I have no intention of submitting this for the Civic Games Challenge. It started with me trying to answer whether you could take a system with an abstract idea of coin and a rigid mission based system and try to account for the people at the bottom of the societal ladder in an already resource limited setting.
William Nichols Would you be willing to share what you've written for this? I totally understand if you're not ready for that yet, but reading what you have here, I'm really curious to see it, and hear more about how it ended up playing
ReplyDeleteMiles Peiser Yes! It'll be a different post. Mostly, I've got MC facing levers on poverty as well as invisible privilege gears.
ReplyDeletePrivilege Gears is an awesome name for a band or game...
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols Lots more discussion about City of Brass happening over on Story Games.
ReplyDeletehttp://story-games.com/forums/discussion/20985/epic-amazing-thing-d-d-5e-city-of-brass
story-games.com - Epic Amazing Thing (D&D 5e / City of Brass)